Wednesday, August 26, 2009

So, when I heard the news...I did what I think Ted Kennedy would have like me to do as an every day Jane Doe American: I read the bill (pdf). All of it.

Officially H.R. 3200, it is the bill known commonly as the Health Care Reform Bill. I know now that it's not merely 1000 pages, but 1017. Only a few hundred pages more than the longest Harry Potter book. This isn't as good a read, but I devoured it just the same.

I know now, for myself, not because I've been told, but because I read it for myself that there is no mention of death panels.

Any citizen - can read the bill. Such is the power of the Internet that I can take the time to read and comprehend the same information available to anyone and everyone. The Internet is the great equalizer of information. It's all out there. All you have to do is connect the dots.

All you have to do is read.

So the Democrats have come up with 1017 pages of proposed health care reform. It left me feeling satisfied and with a few questions. But most of them come from protecting our identities, medical histories and private data. But as to what this administration is attempting to accomplish with health care, it would be a benefit to every American, not just the privileged few - namely those we elect to represent our interests.

I also read the Republicans overly simplistic 4 page rebuttal that they claim is their better plan. Seriously, where did they find the time to write four whole pages between kissing Limbaugh's ass and letting the bullshit of Hannity and Beck fly? If the devil is in the details, then the Republican image is that of angels as they claim that the reform they never bothered to institute and still don't really feel is necessary, but all right, since you're whining about it, here's a plan we slapped together and by the way, if we manage to defeat the Democratic plan, there's no way in hell you're getting any sort reform, but here it is anyhow.

I suppose the Dems will use Ted Kennedy's death as some sort of rallying point - pass health care as a memorial - do what they should have done.

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants." That the hour of Ted Kennedy's death is convenient to the cause of healthcare, hopefully will not eclipse the true patriot and statesman he was.

Wednesday, August 19, 2009

President Obama was not wrong in the way he spoke out on the Gates/ Crowley issue. You, however, were wrong, dead wrong in criticizing President Obama for speaking out. But hey, when was the last time you had to worry about one of your family members being profiled because of the color of their skin? Yeah, you make a big deal out of being Jewish on your show, but darlin, your skin is WHITE. That makes you a white guy. Period.

Oh, and now you're turning on the President in regards to him speaking out on health care. I guess he's not being dictatorish enough for you.

What you all don't seem to understand - and fuck you particularly Jon Stewart because you should know better - we didn't trade a Cheney Dictatorship for and Obama one. We actually have a President now - one who is willing to take a few blows in order to establish the rule of law - not the rule of whoever is willing to take the most pot shots or scream loudest at a public meeting.

You expressed on one of your shows that Bush just "got things done" without asking. That Bush ran roughshod over everyone and everything. And yeah, he screwed things up and put the country in debt, and ruined our credibility with the rest of the planet and killed a few million Iraqis and handed out pardons to his buddies like cotton candy at a state fair, but he got things DONE and damned, can't Obama just get things done like Bush in the name of doing somethign GOOD.

Unfortunately, the answer to that question, as much as we would like it to be yes, is no. Because we would simply be changing a malevolent dictatorship for a benevolent dictatorship. But it would still be a dictatorship and we are Democratic Republic.

And in this Republic, as long as it stands, there seems to be one man who understands that principle whether you or the rest of America does or not.

And that man is Barack Obama.

I read some comments on an article once that said that you simply were off the mark. That you weren't, above all "funny" anymore and that Colbert was stealing your thunder. And this was my response to that person.

As much as I love Colbert - politically, Colbert's the flashy pretty boy you play around with. Stewart is the one you take home to mama and settle down with. There is no eclipse. They both do two entirely different shticks for the same ends. Can't get enough of either one of them.

And without them, the political landscape would be very bleak instead. How quickly we forget the days when their voices seemed to be the only ones expressing their sarcastic dissent and how they dared to challenge the status quo.

I know American[s] are a fickle bunch. But to turn on Colbert and Stewart at this point in the game is just....wrong....and sad...on levels I cannot comprehend. They shouldn't have to be funny to get us to give a damn about our Democratic Republic. It's a damn shame that only their brutally intellectual and stunningly presented dog and pony show may have just saved us all.

If I thought that much of you then, then you can imagine my disappointment now.

It's one thing to criticize Obama. It's another to give the MSM fodder, as if they didn't have enough bullshit and lies to begin with. You, on the other hand, with your "shtick", give those lies and spin credibility.

You are not just turning your back on the President. You are turning your back on all of us who give a damn about how this country really should be work.

Once upon a time, I was ready to say fuck America, let it burn, who cares. But you reminded me that the country and the ideals it was founded on were great. It was the administration of the country that was screwed up.

And you were so right.

This administration also has it RIGHT. For all our sakes, don't abandon it now.

I'm telling you beware, beware of the handshakeThat hides the snakeListen to me now, bewareBeware of that pat on the backIt just might hold you backSmiling faces, smiling faces sometimesThey don't tell the truthSmiling faces, smiling facesTell lies and I got proofYour enemy won't do you no harmCause you'll know where he's coming fromDon't let the handshake and the smile fool yaTake my advice I'm only try' to school yaf

Thursday, August 13, 2009

They are liars. Liars by omission. That any and all of them can sit there, grin in America's face every morning and not mention the bigotry and racism behind the vitriol that is the Townhall Protest, Birther and Tea Party movements is disgusting. I know they're paid to look pretty and spout whatever they're told - but they sicken me. Every damn morning.

White folks are on a kick right now that is really pissing me off. First, they are openly declaring black folks racist. Yep. Racism has nothing to do with white people anymore. Black folks are racist. It used to just be Minister Farrakhan, Al Sharpton and occasionally Jesse Jackson. But oh no. The cop who arrested Professor Gates - not a racist - but Professor Gates is. Obama for saying the cop acted stupidly - well Obama's a racist. Me - for calling out my coworker on her bigotry - oh, that makes me a racist for reading something into her comments that she never intended.

Rush Limbaugh called new Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor a racist over and over again on his show for her "wise Latina" comment. "Here, we have a racist," he declared. Limbaugh, of all the God-forsaken people and who has, to any sane and rational person, become the poster boy for what is true American bigotry, had the unmitigated call to someone else out for racism? My stomach churns with anger just thinking about it.

We all have seen the playground scenario - A little kid on the playground who shouts out "You're stupid!" and the other kid lamely yells back, "Well yeah? Uh...so are you! You're stupid too." Simply out-of-hand calling people of color "racists" merely for the crime of pointing out the blatant bigotry of whites is a disgusting and pathetic practice. Beyond childish and shows the dangerously simplistic minds of grown people who should be intelligent enough to know better.

Worse, bandying about the term "racist" and applying it to black people is an attempt to rob all people of color of what that term really means. White oppression, white privilege, discrimination and bigotry are real. They have not gone away and have never been "underground" or "silent" as white people like to claim. That there are still "white" neighborhoods and "black neighborhoods", "white" schools and "black" schools, "white" churches and "black" churches - that we still categorize so much in terms of "black" and "white" is indicative of a larger problem and it's not one that people of color can ignore as it effects their livelihoods. But it's a problem that white people more and more often quickly set aside by labeling black folks who call them out on their narrow-mindedness "racist".

I really have to question the sanity of people who listen to the likes of Limbaugh, Hannity, Beck, Savage, O'Reilly and Coulter. If you watch FOX News and BELIEVE that it's news not propaganda, think again. If you watch shows like the 700 Club and BELIEVE that it's a news show, not propaganda, wake up!

One last note - please do not accuse me of or expect me to apologize for using "white folk" as a general term. I will not. If you're white and the mindset I've described above doesn't apply to you, then obviously, I'm not talking about you. But you need to be aware that the good have to fight as well. Don't stay silent. Fight back. Fight back for the soul of our country.